Psychic Energy

Psychic energy is a Freudian concept describing the power of what motivates us in thought, emotion, perception, imagination, memory, sexual urges and other desires, and behavior. In Freudian theory, psychic energy is generated by the libido and released through biological means, known as drives. A drive has both a biological and a psychological need. Freud believed we continuously generate psychic energy, but the supply is limited and dynamic and only a certain amount is available for use at any point in time by the three components of personality: id, ego, and superego. Freud also proposed psychic energy was both positive and negative, invested in what he called cathexis (investing psychic energy into an idea, person, or object) or anticathexis (expending psychic energy to block socially unacceptable impulses and desires from the id). While historically significant, Freud’s theory of psychic energy is largely considered outdated. Today it’s seen more as a hypothesis to explain motivation and other aspects of mental functioning